Eagle Ford Rig Count Pushes to 101

May 19, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

The Eagle Ford Shale rig count continues its climb, with 101 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Eagle Ford News: after two years of struggle and industry contraction, the outlook in Texas' Eagle Ford Shale is looking more positive.

A total of 901 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of 16 over last week. 180 rigs targeted natural gas (eight more than the previous week) and 720 were targeting oil in the U.S. (eight more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 459 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Baker Hughes reports its own Eagle Ford Rig Count that covers the 14 core counties. The rig count published on EagleFordShale.com includes a 30 county area impacted by Eagle Ford development. A full list of the counties included can be found in the table below.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Eight rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading at $3.26/mmbtu.

95 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $50.32

A total of 95 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells and four are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 24 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-May 19, 2017 — Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-May 19, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

WildHorse Gains Eagle Ford Acreage

Eagle Ford Shale Gaining Strength through 2017

Carrizo Invests Heavily in the Eagle Ford Shale Play

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across a 30 county area in South Texas. The South Texas rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Eagle Ford formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count has had its ups and downs, marking the rise of the region's shale development and the decline brought on by low crude prices.

WildHorse Gains Eagle Ford Acreage

May 18, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

WildHorse Resource Development Corp. has announced they will purchase 111,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas.

Related: Wildhorse Goes Public

Houston-based WildHorse, has entered into a $625 million deal to expand its holdings in the Eagle Ford.

The company will purchase 111,000 net acres from Anadarko Petroleum and affiliates of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.. The assets are located in Burleson, Brazos, Lee, Milam, Robertson and Washington counties and had a fourth quarter production of 7,583 boepd from 386 operated wells.

“This transformative acquisition presented us with a strategic opportunity to consolidate our acreage position. With a total of 385,000 net acres [1,558 square km], we have built a premier contiguous acreage base, making us the second largest operator in the entire Eagle Ford trend.”

— Jay Graham., Chairman and CEO

WildHorse Resource Development Corp. is one of the newest public companies serving the region, having launched its initial public offering for $664 million in December, 2016.

The transaction is expected to close on or around June 30, 2017 with an effective date of January 1, 2017.

First Quarter 2017

Wildhorse reported an 'exciting' first quarter that included an increased average daily production by 18% to 17.6 MBoe/d for compared to 14.9 MBoe/d for the first quarter 2016. Other highlights include:

Increased Net Income to $20.3 million compared to a Net Loss of $14.2 million for the first quarter 2016
Raised estimated full-year 2017 production guidance range to 27.0 – 31.0 MBoe/d from 23.0 – 27.0 MBoe/d
Gathering, processing and transportation expense was $1.7 million, versus $1.9 million in the first quarter 2016.
Brought online its first Burleson North well and one of the strongest wells to date in the East Texas Eagle Ford and the Altimore #1H

Eagle Ford Shale Gaining Strength through 2017

May 15, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

After two years of struggle and industry contraction, the outlook in Texas' Eagle Ford Shale is looking more positive.

1) Oil and Gas Rig Count

As oil prices have rebounded, Eagle Ford producers found they could make a profit again and we are seeing more rigs dotting the landscape.

This time last year, the monthly rig count was consistently falling, but during the first quarter of 2017 that downward trend has reversed. Operators in the Eagle Ford Shale region are currently running 99 oil and gas rigs compared to 34 in May 2016.

2) Production Increases

During the first quarter of 2017, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) reported a spike in the number of drilling permits issued. The agency granted 3257 new drilling permits, more than double the number of this time last year.

This goes hand in hand with an increase in production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that total America shale oil production will grow to about 438,712 barrels per day year-to-date through May 2017. The agency also estimates that the Eagle Ford shale will have added 78,468 barrels of oil per day from February 2017 to its May 2017 oil production estimate.

3) Reduced Costs

Throughout the downturn, producers have worked hard to manage and reduce operating costs and improve efficiencies as a strategy to survive. These have proven to be a key factor in the Eagle Ford come-back. For the first quarter of 2017, many companies credit lower costs to strong results.

Cabot Oil and Gas reported 13% drop in drilling costs for Eagle Ford in Q1
NuStar credited lower costs with strong first quarter results
Encana has reduced transportation and operating costs by $100 million and claims some of the lowest drilling costs in the industry
Carrizo lowered the estimate for a type curve well in the Eagle Ford by $100,000

Some analysts predict this positive trend to continue in the Eagle Ford throughout 2017.

“The Eagle Ford shale basin is experiencing a resurgence and oil production growth adding to global supply challenges, we believe that operational efficiencies gained over the past several years will enable producers to operate in an environment of oil prices in the high $40s to low $50s. ”

— SeekingAlpha.com

Carrizo Invests Heavily in the Eagle Ford Shale Play

May 14, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Carrizo Oil and Gas reported an outstanding first quarter, which included heavy investment in the Eagle Ford.

Speaking during a quarterly earnings call, Carrizo executives announced that currently 85% of the company's drilling and completion capital expenditures are allocated to the Eagle Ford Shale Play.

In the eagle Ford, Carrizo is producing from approximately 514 gross or 431 net wells, with three drilling rigs running and two 24/7 frac crews.

“We continue to conduct multiples tests aimed at enhancing the value of our Eagle Ford Shale asset. We currently have five stagger-stack pilots underway across our acreage and expect to test additional pilots later this year. We also plan to drill our initial infill well on the properties we recently acquired from Sanchez. We also continue to test different completion techniques in order to enhance our well performance, including varying fluid type, proppant concentration, and stage spacing. ”

— S.P. Johnson, CEO

Eagle Ford Highlights for Q1

Drilled 24 gross (20.1 net) operated wells
Completed 29 gross (28.7 net) wells
Crude oil production was more than 25,500 Bbls/d, up 2% versus the prior quarter
At the end of the quarter, Carrizo had 29 gross (23.9 net) operated Eagle Ford wells in progress or waiting on completion, equating to net crude oil production potential of approximately 9,000 Bbls/d
Currently operating three rigs
Lowered the estimate for a type curve well in the Eagle Ford by $100,000
Projects to drill approximately 106 gross (91 net) operated wells and complete 94 gross (85 net) operated wells during 2017

Other Eagle Ford operators have reported strong first quarter results for the Eagle Ford:

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

NuStar Sees Positive Turn in Eagle Ford

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

Penn Virginia Spending 90% in the Eagle Ford

Read the full Carrizo transript here.

Eagle Ford Rig Count Stalls at 99

May 13, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

After weeks of steady increases, the Eagle Ford Shale rig count has stalled at 99 for three weeks in a row.

In recent Eagle Ford News, Baytex Energy announced strong first quarter results for its Eagle Ford assets, including increased performance and a break-even point at $30 per barrel of WTI.

A total of 885 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, an increase of eight over last week. 172 rigs targeted natural gas (one less than the previous week) and 712 were targeting oil in the U.S. (nine more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 451 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in Texas.

Eagle Ford Oil & Gas Rigs

Eight rigs in the Eagle Ford region targeted natural gas this week with the commodity trading increasing to $3.42/mmbtu.

91 Eagle Ford rigs were targeting oil with WTI oil prices at $47.84

A total of 94 rigs are drilling horizontal wells, two are drilling directional wells and three are vertical.

Karnes County leads this week with 23 rigs in production. See the full list below in the Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County below.

Eagle Ford Shale Drilling by County

Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-May 12, 2017 — Eagle Ford Rig Count by County-May 12, 2017

Eagle Ford Shale News

Baytex Breaks-Even at $30 a Barrel in the Eagle Ford

Cabot Getting Good Returns in the Eagle Ford

NuStar Sees Positive Turn in Eagle Ford

Sitton: Every Day is Earth Day

Venado Building Strong Eagle Ford Business

What is the Rig Count?

The Eagle Ford Shale drilling rig count has had its ups and downs, marking the rise of the region's shale development and the decline brought on by low crude prices.